Have you found yourself questioning what they mean in messages or conversation? Are you struggling to decipher their acronyms and other millennial-speak? Never fear - we’ve put together a helpful list of 50 text terms, internet phrases and acronyms so you can ‘get down with the kids’.
|
Term |
Meaning |
|
AF |
Acronym for ‘as f**k’, usually used to heighten or exclaim something e.g. “that exam was hard af” |
|
Awks |
Abbreviation for ‘awkward’ |
|
Bae |
Abbreviation for ‘before anyone else’, usually used to refer to one’s girlfriend/boyfriend/partner |
|
Basic |
Means something simple or mainstream e.g. white shirts or Starbucks coffee |
|
BRB |
Acronym for ‘be right back’ |
|
BTW |
Acronym for ‘by the way’ |
|
DM |
Acronym for ‘direct message’ |
|
Extra |
An adjective to describe when someone is behaving dramatically or over the top e.g. “they are being so extra right now” |
|
Fam |
Shortened version of ‘family’, but often used by someone when referring to their closest friends |
|
Fire |
An adjective similar to ‘attractive’, complimentary of someone’s appearance e.g. “they are looking fire today” OR A positive adjective to describe something good or cool-looking e.g. “that design looks fire” |
|
FOMO |
Acronym for ‘fear of missing out’ |
|
GOAT |
An acronym that stands for ‘greatest of all time’ |
|
G2G / GTG |
An acronym for ‘got to go’ |
|
Hella |
Often used for emphasis instead of ‘really’ or ‘extremely’ |
|
High key |
Substitution for something you want to express with a lot of emotion e.g. “I highkey agree” or “I am highkey panicking” |
|
IDK |
Acronym for ‘I don’t know’ |
|
IIRC |
Acronym for ‘if I remember correctly’ |
|
IMO |
Acronym for ‘in my opinion’ |
|
IRL |
Acronym for ‘in real life’ |
|
K / KK / kk |
Means ‘ok’ / ‘okay’ |
|
Lit |
An adjective to describe something cool or fun e.g. that concert was lit |
|
LMK |
Acronym for ‘let me know’ |
|
LOL |
Acronym for ‘laugh out loud’ |
|
Lowkey |
Antonym of ‘high key’; more subtle in its use / milder emotion attached to what is being said; a version of ‘kind of’ e.g. “I low key think you’re being unfair” |
|
Mood |
Means ‘same’ or ‘relatable’ |
|
NM |
Acronym for ‘never mind’ |
|
NSFW |
Acronym for ‘not safe for work’ |
|
OG |
Acronym initially for ‘original gangster’ but now generally used to simply mean ‘original’ |
|
OTP |
Acronym for ‘one true pairing’, a relationship you support/aspire towards |
|
RN |
Acronym for ‘right now’ |
|
RT |
Acronym used on social media to mean ‘retweet’ |
|
Savage |
Describes someone who is saying exactly what they are thinking; without filter; sometimes rude or mean |
|
Salty |
Used to describe someone being bitter about something |
|
Shade |
When you disrespect someone indirectly, you are ‘throwing shade’ or ‘being shady’ |
|
Ship / Shipping |
Soulmates |
|
Shook |
Adjective meaning ‘shocked’ or ‘surprised’ e.g. she was shook that they all found out |
|
Slay |
Means you’re doing something well, or look good |
|
SMH |
Acronym for ‘shake my head’, expressing disappointment |
|
Stan |
Means ‘support’ or ‘worship’ e.g. “We stan Beyonce’ |
|
TBH |
An acronym for ‘to be honest’ |
|
TBF |
An acronym for ‘to be fair’ |
|
Tea |
Means ‘gossip’ e.g. “that’s the tea” |
|
TL;DR |
An acronym for ‘Too long; didn’t read’ |
|
Totes |
Abbreviation for ‘totally’ |
|
Vibes / Vibey |
Means ‘the right atmosphere or mood’ e.g. “this music is really vibey / it’s got all the right vibes” |
|
Woke |
If someone is woke, it means they are aware of the controversy in the world |
|
WTF |
Acronym for ‘what the f**k’ |
|
Yas |
Enthusiastic way to say ‘yes’ |
|
Yeet |
Means to throw something at high speed |
|
Yolo |
Acronym for ‘you only live once’ |
And that’s our list! Don’t forget to bookmark and to share it with friends who might also find it useful. If you want to embarrass your kids and start sending them some slang-filled messages, why not take a look at Asda Mobile’s bundles for unlimited texts?
For more parent technology guides, check out our posts on parental control software and sanity-saving apps for parents.
